Could It Be Sorcery?
TGIF!!
After yesterday and much of today, I welcome the weekend. I need some time off after the events of the past not-quite two days.
ï The computer gave me endless hours of trouble.
ï The in-the-computer fax program is missing a driver.
ï The regular old fax machine is acting up.
ï The phone on my desk seems to have burned a fuse, so I brought over another one, which lacks almost all the neato features of the "main unit" desk phone instrument in this PBX system we got a few years ago.
ï My daughter's new prescription isn't covered by the health plan. Ouch, I say, writing the check and cursing the HMO.
ï My blood sugar went kerflooey late yesterday. Major negative effects from that last night and this morning.
All of this, of course, while I had a ton of spreadsheets, word-docs and analysis to do, and a few million phone calls. Let's not forget the marketing, consulting, selling and information management that is part of each day, which also must be done.
Even got an angrygram from one client, complaining about his stuff...some of which was an error of oversight on my part, much of which was the auto-fax and the e-mail schedule and such was just on the blink yesterday.
And the local cable company [1]...oi vey! First they disconnect me, and apologize for the error. Then when they went to reconnect me it took an extra day, as it seems they reconnected someone else in error, just as they'd disconnected me in error.. So the cable comes back on (oh, good, I can resume watching Win Ben Stein's Money, my daily escape at 11:30PM!), but now they've turned off HBO. I get HBO/Plus, but not regular old HBO. Who knows how long til they fix this error?!?!
What is it? The position of the moon? A confluence of gravity issues? Yesterday being the anniversary of Alexander Graham Bell's first transcontinental phone call? Sorcery?
Usually when there is an avalanche of vexations and irritations, it isn't just me. Misery supposedly loves company, so one just expects to hear that everyone else had a troubled Thursday and Friday. Of course, given the lack of energy and backlog of calls to return, maybe I just haven't heard it yet.
Or maybe I'm too busy, making sure everything is okay, after the past 36 or so hours.
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Some Good Things
Attention fans of good actor William H. Macy [2]: he's the guest on Dennis Miller tonight on HBO.
Saw the film The Gift [3] a few nights ago. It stars Cate Blanchett [4], and she is completely believable and magnificent in the role. Man, can she act!
Keannu Reeves, playing as surly and offensive a bad guy character as one could ever imagine, is outstanding! Greg Kinnear plays a sort of Opie-like adult, and he is good in his role. Hillary Swank in a supporting actor role is fiercely convincing. There are a number of very good supporting roles in the movie. The most notable is Giovanni Ribisi, who manages to steal every scene he's in. His part seems slightly overwritten, but his acting compensates for this.
Director Sam Raimi [5] keeps the suspense, the story, the mystery, and the ambience of the film in top form, throughout. The cinematography is gorgeous, it is a pleasure to watch the film go by.
Other actors, another director, and the film could easily have been a cheesy grade B effort. The story is a bit hackneyed, and the mystery (as well as the plot-development device hints) is no challenge whatsoever. Some storyline events are downright idiotic, made up for only by the direction and the intensity of the story flow.
What makes the film so good is the suspenseful storytelling, and Cate Blanchett's acting.
Oz [6] fans will enjoy seeing J.K. Simmons (he plays inmate Vernon Schillinger [7], the notorious White Supremacist, on Oz) in a role as the local Southern Sheriff. This guy can act!
Warning: "The Gift" is not for those faint of heart.
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Some people meditate; others may do breathing exercises, Yoga, maybe go for a run or workout at the gym. For the deskbound, here's a suggestion. Need to relax? Check this out:
About the Exhibition [Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People] [8] There's something warm, reassuring, and refreshing about Norman Rockwell's work. Going to this site is a moment of fresh air amidst the day to day mania.